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(No ModeL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

P. GOGKER E G. YULE. HAT GURLING MACHINE.

No. 320,115. Patented June 16, 1885.

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ilNrrED STA-TES FREDERICK COCKER, OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT, AND GEORGE YULE, OF NEVARK, NEV JERSEY, ASSIGNORS 'TO THE I-IAIACURLING MACHINE COMPANY, OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT.

HAT-CURLING MACHINE.

.SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.320,l15, dated June 16, 1885.

(No model.)

To all whom t may concern.:

Be it known that we, FREDERICK CoeKEE, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and GEO. YULE, a citizen of the United States, residing, respectively, in Danbury and Newark, counties of Fairfield and Essex, and States of Connecticut and New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hat- Curling Machines, fully described and represented inthe following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention consists, first, in an adjustable gage to assist the breaker in first bending` the edge of the hat-brim at the desired point; and, secondly, in a separator to prevent the Contact of the curled felt with the under brim77 beneath it. Our improvements are adapted especially for the production of flat,

angular, or so-called Anglesea curls, in which the edge of the brim requires pressing first into a close fiat fold before it can be made to retain the open angular form desired, and in the formation of which the edge of the folded felt is liable to mark or compress the body of thc hat-brim it' pressed down hard upon it, as has been common heretofore.

Our separator consists in a thin slip of metal held between the pressi ng-iron and the brimsupporting plate, and, beinginserted between the hat-brim and the fold of the curl, it not only prevents the marking of the under brim and the sticking of the two together, as often happens without its use, but it furnishes a much harder surface upon which to press the curl than is afforded by the felt of the under brim, and thereby effects the pressing or ironing of the curl in a much more rapid and e1- fective manner.

It has been common heretofore to shape and form the curl by applying a guide-plate or former to the upper side of the brim and then bending the edge of the brim over said former by means of a cloth, a heated bag, or metallic segments, but our separator, as will be fully shown herein, differs from such a guide-plate in not fitting the brim at all points, in not aiding in any manner to determine the iinal shape of the curl, and in operating merely to prevent the curl from being pressed into or 5o upon the under brim and thereby sticking to or deforming the latter. Such guide-plates as we have just referred to are necessarily tted to the entire shape of the hat-curl, and require to be changed or altered for any change 5 5 in the required shape of the curl, and, as the hat and guideplate are both stationary, the curl cannot be formed at all without. the use of the latter. Upon the contrary, the mechanism with which we use our separator-namely, the 63 rotating brim-plate and vibrating curling-iron or presserare fully adapted to produce and finish the curl without the intervention of the separator, and the latter is inserted within the curl neither to produce or finish the same, but 65 to protect the under brim, as described herein. XVe therefore disclaim a guide-plate iuserted within the curl to aid in determining the shape of the latter, as the separator described herein is not intended to exercise any 7o such function.

Our improved gage operates, in conjunction with the breaker, to turn overor break the edge of the hat-bri1n during the first revolutions ofthe latter in the curling-machine, the breaking or curling irom being retracted during such primary breaking operation.

Our invention will be understood by refer" ence to the annexed drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of a hat-curling machine 8( provided with our improvements, the parts at the left side of the machine being shown in section on line .fr a' in Fig. 2, excepting the hat-clamp. Fig. 2 is a plan of the machine, with the parts above line y y at the left side of Fig. l omitted, to show the breaker-gage more clearly. Fig. 3 is an elevation ofthe left end of the same machine, showing the means of adjusting the carrier and breaken gage. Fig. 4 is a view of the inner end of the 9o iron, the breaker, and the separator, of their natural size, with a portion of the hat-brim, the latter being shown in section on line a; a', in Fig. 5, which view shows the same parts in plan, the iron being shown only in dotted lilies to avoid obscuring the other parts of the iigure, which includes a portion of the hat-brim and crown, the curl being shown in both in Figs. 3 andetthe foldfis shown entering the mouth of the iron at g', passing over the highest point of the breaker at line b b, and pressed closely toward the under brim at the heel of the iron, on line c c, the iron being shaped, as is usual, to rst plow or bend the curl up, as shown in Fig. 5, to then fold it over the breaker, as in Fig. 6, and to finally press it down flat, as shown in Fig. 7. In the formation of Anglesea curls, such as are shown in Fig. 6, and others in which the felt is folded closely and sharply down around the edge of the hat-brim, great difficulty has been experienced heretofore in pressing the fold down upon the under brim with sufficient pressure to bend the fold permanently to the required shape without forcing the fold partiallyl into the under brim, and without occasionally stick ing the fold to the brim when the shellac stiffening77 was heated by the pressing-iron. As curls of this character are always formed by first pressing the felt down flat, as shown in Fig. S, it is obvious that when the fold rests upon the under brim the pressure must affect one part of thefelt just as much as the other, so that when the fold is afterward finished by lifting it to the position shown in Fig. 7, the under brim is distinctly marked or compressed where the edge of the fold lay upon it.

In Figs. 4 and S our separator is distinctly shown inserted between the fold and the brim, and effectually preventing both the marking of the brim just referred to and the sticking of the fold to the same at any stage of the curling operation. The construction for this purpose obviously consists of a thin plate sustained independently of the iron in such manner as to project beneath the heel of the iron at h, so that the separator will lie under the fold and separate the same from the brim beneath; and it is therefore immaterial whether the separator be attached to the breaker or formed apart from the breaker and otherwise supported. At the right side of Figs. l and 2 a separator is shown operating independently ofthe breaker, being attached to the carrierguide by an arm, a, to which it is adjustably secured by a bolt, a', and slot ai. As the iron lr operates at this side with a hatteningAiron under a heavy pressure for the ex press object of iiattening or pressing the curl down hard, it is obvious that the separator is even more useful in conjunction with such flattening-iron than with the breakerand bending-iron ll'. The separator is shown in Fig. l of considerably greater width at its free end than in Fig. and such construction when employed is especially adapted to prevent the heel of the hot iron from burning or marking that part of the brim not covered by the fold f, and which is very liable to be puckered or pushed upward at various points during the curling operation by the resistance of the felt to the curling tools.

It desired, the separator may be extended out from the path of the curl very considerably, as shown in the dotted outline V in Fig.

l, for the purpose of holding the brim elastically down upon the plate B, to prevent such puckering, and to thus constrain the felt moreI effcctnally to travel in the desired course or path through the curling devices.

The operation of the above-described devices is as follows: rlhe hat is placed upon the brim-plate and clamped thereon by any snitable nxeans, the brim being previously formed ot' suitable dimensions for the curling operation. The ironsh and lr are then retracted, as indicated in the position of the iron h in Fig. l, so as to clear the brim while the edge of the same is first operated upon by the gage r. This gage may be set in its operative position before the hat is applied, with the brim lying on top of it, and when the hat is rotated the breaker Z may be forced down upon the upper side of the brim, thus gradually pressing the same into the concave end of the gage r, and bending the edge of t-he felt into anV angle with the under brim.

The separator connected with the opposite iron h2 may be dropped upon the felt while the breaker is thus operating, and the iron h is then pushed forward until the stop y1o is in contact with the guide E, bringing the iron over the bent edge of the brim, as shown in Fig. 7, and pressing the curl hard upon the breaker to fold it down more closely toward the brim. The iron l1,2 is then moved forward into the position shown in Fig. l, pressing the felt down upon the separator within the curl and flattening the latter in the most effectual The heel of the iron l1, (shown at lz in Figs. 3 and 7) operates in asimilar manner to flatten down the curl, but is not so effective as the iron if when the latter is made with ils entire under face of ilat shape, as is usual,and is heavily weighted, as is shown and claimed by us in our copendingapplieation,No. 159,909. \Vhen the curl ofthe hat has been sul'liciently shaped and pressed, as shown at f in Fig. 2, the curling-irons are retracted, and the breakers and separators are readily removed from within tdie curl by slightly bending the latter,

the pivots of the arms a and Z/ being so situ ated as to swing the separators partly toward the brim when removing them. The iron f" may require to be lifted to place it upon the partially-lnished curl, which may be done by hand or by treadle, as claimed in our said patent application. It is evident that the application of these devices to operate conjointl y on hats of different sizes, and with irons and breakers of various dimensions, requires means for separate adjustment in relation to one another and to the hat-clamp, for which purpose the breaker or separator may be adjusted by means of the screws mi! and a, the iron by the movable stops w, and the breakergage by the screw frz. These adj nstments are all independent ofthe holder d, which may be set to or from the clamp B/ by the slot provided at the bolt 8; but it is obvious that any one of these three implements might be rigidly lnstencd to the holder, and adjusted in relation to the others or to the hat-clamp by means of .the adjustable connection between the roller d2 and the holder itself.

The breaker-gage, the iron, and the breaker may also be operated in any other manner than that shown herein, although we have found it preferable` to set the gage before or in front of the iron h, and to partially break the curl with the gage and breaker prior to the operation ot' i the iron h.

2. In a hat-curling machine, the combination, with the curling-iron and breaker, operating together as described, of aat separator attached to the breaker, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a hat-curling machine, the combination, with a breaker, adapted to form a dat or Anglesea curl, and an iron beveled to it the breaker and flattened at the heel to fold down the curl, as described, of a flat separator attached to the breaker and extended Linder the heel of the iron, as and for Vthe purpose set forth.

4. In a hat-curling machine, the combination, with a vibrating holder, of a toolcarrier and a hinged breaker separately secured thereon, a breaker-gage attached to the tool-holder, and means for adjusting the gage in relation tothe holder, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a hat-curling machine, the combination, with a vibrating holder, of a tool-carrier and ahinged breaker separately secured thereon, a breaker-gage attached to the tool-holder,

and means for adjusting the breaker and the in the lower side of the iron, to operate with, d i

the breaker before the iron, as and for the purpose set forth. Y

7. In a hat-curling machine, the combinai tion, with a curling-iron and the rotary plate supporting the hat-brim, of a holder having a tool-carrier, abreaker, and a breaker-gage, each adjustably attached thereto, andla flat separator combined with the rear edge of the breaker, as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In a hat-curling machine, the combination, with a rotary brim-plate and hat-clamp, of two vibrating holders, one holder being provided with a brim-bending tool, a hinged breaker, a separator, and an adjustable breaker-gage, arranged and operated as described, and the other holder being provided with a tlattening-iron and a separator, the whole arranged and operated as and for the purpose set forth.

9. In a hat-curling machine, the combination',with avibrating holder, of atool-carrier, a hinged breaker, and a breaker-gage, with means for adjusting the carrier, breaker, and breaker-gage separately, las and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set 8o our hands in the presence of two subscribing Y witnesses.

FREDERICK oooKER. GEORGE YULE.

"itnessesz HENRY J. THERERATH,

Trios. S. CRANE.

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(No ModeL) E. J. OOLBY.

WATGHMANS 171MB RECORDER.

N0. 320,116. Patented June 16,1885.

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